This gorgeous volume will cause you terrible frustration. Not because the recipes are poorly constructed – they’re impeccable. Not because it’s hard on the eyes – the photographs are as leisurely and elegant as the prose.

No, The Lee Bros. Charleston Kitchen is mostly an exercise in frustration because its most enticing recipes are based on a local ethos so compelling you can’t quite bear to substitute your own weak regional proxies. And in those recipes whose ingredients are universally available, you can’t avoid the nagging suspicion that they’d still be better in the Lees’ kitchen than in yours.

Nevertheless, the book offers such pleasure in so many ways it would be a shame to be intimidated into passing it by.

On CookShelf, the cookbook-rating appthis week, you’ll find more data points and analysis of this book and over 200 more of the latest cookbooks. Treat yourself to a copy of the app for cookbook fanatics – it’s available for both iPhone/iPad and Android devices and updated most Wednesdays.